This article appears in the April/May edition of Africa Print Journal.
Optimum image quality up to 1200 x 4800 dpi is achieved with Ricoh’s enhanced Vertical
Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) technology. It delivers a premium finish, and supports an extensive range of media, including new textured media technology, and enables many different applications such as light packaging, demo packaging, direct mail, books, brochures and business cards.
A key feature of the Pro™ C7100 series is its fifth colour station that allows clear gloss or white applications, which offers print services providers significant additional revenue opportunities.
The Ricoh Pro™ C7100 series of digital colour cut sheet presses are ideal for small to medium-sized graphic arts business, direct mailers, service bureaux, digital printers and centralised reprographic departments.
It supports print service providers seeking to increase their current digital printing capacity, enter new markets and explore new digital opportunities by providing capabilities and offerings to clients not previously available with this engine class.
'Print service providers will find it easier to offer more diverse products to their customers with the new Pro™ C7100,' said Jean Lloyd, executive GM for production print at Ricoh SA. 'It’s highly productive for its class at 90 pages per minute and it handles stock up to 360gsm.'
The expansion of Ricoh’s unique media library, continuously updated in conjunction with suppliers and customers through Ricoh’s UK laboratory, allows users to adjust and associate different parameters per substrate to ensure image quality and reliability. In addition to product features, the operator replaceable units (ORUs) enable trained users to replace more than a dozen parts. That strategy is crucial to reliability and good, consistent image quality, and helps to increase uptime and performance. The Pro™ C7100 series is available with either the EFi E-43A or the faster and more powerful E-83A print server.
The introduction of the Pro™ C7100 series enhances the existing portfolio of colour cut sheet presses to offer greater productivity and creativity to commercial and graphic arts users.
Ricoh’s software solutions deliver supreme connectivity and performance across the spectrum of workflow needs that professional production printers have, whether in mixed or digital only environments.
VCSEL TECHNOLOGY
VCSEL is a surface emitting laser diode that features the fabrication of a two-dimensional arrangement of the beam; density of the laser beam can be significantly increased in a smaller space than with the conventional edge type laser diode.
Ricoh’s VCSEL achieved the industry’s highest density (4800dpi), with the ability to emit 40 laser beams simultaneously as a light source for the optical recording device of a production printer or high-speed copier. This achieves high-speed and high-definition printing equal to that of offset printing, resulting in vivid images and crisp and clean characters/narrow lines.
To ensure high-quality printing of images, stability of the light source is an important characteristic of the writing unit. Ricoh's VCSEL achieves long-time beam stability, long-life, and good element robustness by employing newly developed process technologies and a highly thermal conductive structure. With these solutions, Ricoh has made it possible to form images at higher speed and quality than ever.
RICOH PRO™ C7100 SERIES FEATURES SUMMARY
• Offset-like image quality.
• Maximises productivity.
• Broad paper support.
• Hassle-free operation.
• Small footprint.
• Highly productive with print speeds up to 90ppm.
• Media support up to 360gsm.
• Maximum sheet size of SRA3.
• Air assisted duplex banner printing up to 700mm.
• Maximum monthly volume of 240000 based on A4.
• Duty cycle of 700k.
• Precise sheet-to-sheet and front-to-back registration achieved with mechanical registration.
• Reliable throughput of the wide range of supported media is ensured by the use of Ricoh’s new vacuum feed technology.
• Compatible with either the EFi E-43A or the faster and more powerful E-83A print server.
